UK Parliament / Open data

Debate on the Address

Queen's speech debate on Wednesday, 22 November 2006, in the House of Commons, led by Baroness Beckett. The answering member was Lord Hague of Richmond.
Queen's speech debate (fourth day) on foreign policy and defence.
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
453 c548-654 
Session
2006-07
Department
Ministry of Defence
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Procedure
Addresses to the Crown
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Speaker | 453 c568 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the House that Mr. Speaker has placed a 10-minute limit on Back-Bench speeches, whic...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 453 c652-4 (Link to this contribution) The investigation that was called for in the debate in which the official Opposition were so equivoc...

Show all contributions (156)
Liam Fox | 453 c645-50 (Link to this contribution) This has been a thoughtful debate. Listening to the contributions from all parts of the House, the t...
Bernard Jenkin | 453 c652 (Link to this contribution) I shall be as brief as I possibly can. If it is all right for the President of the United States to ...
Bernard Jenkin | 453 c652 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 453 c650-2 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased to respond to our debate on behalf of the Government. I share the view of the hon. Memb...
Tobias Ellwood | 453 c640 (Link to this contribution) I understand. We have a huge commitment in Helmand, and I would like to see other NATO countries inv...
Shailesh Vara | 453 c640-2 (Link to this contribution) Much of the debate has centred on the major issues of the day—Iraq, Afghanistan, and the middle east...
Shailesh Vara | 453 c642-3 (Link to this contribution) I am pressed for time so I trust that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I do not give way. Buil...
Mark Pritchard | 453 c643-5 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate, and I would like to pay particular tribute...
Tobias Ellwood | 453 c639 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point. We need more debates in the House so that we may pursue the issu...
Mark Pritchard | 453 c638-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right to say that the destiny of Iraq should be decided by the Iraqi people. Is he...
Tobias Ellwood | 453 c640 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention, but the Defence Secretary highlights the need for some cohesion...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 453 c639-40 (Link to this contribution) I have written to the hon. Gentleman about Warriors, which he has asked about in this House more tha...
Robert Smith | 453 c558 (Link to this contribution) I want to reinforce the need for that focused debate, especially on Afghanistan, as that was at the ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c558 (Link to this contribution) I am glad that my opening remarks have been a vehicle for the hon. Gentleman to make that point. The...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c558 (Link to this contribution) That is a rather early intervention, but I give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Baroness Beckett | 453 c555-8 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, I must make progress. I am sure that the whole House will join me in paying tribute to...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c555 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will know that there is a meeting in a few days’ time, and I shall come on to tha...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c553-4 (Link to this contribution) I can certainly give my hon. Friend that assurance. As she knows, there is no one better fitted than...
John Bercow | 453 c554 (Link to this contribution) Will the Foreign Secretary give way?
Baroness Beckett | 453 c554 (Link to this contribution) I will do so, although I said that I would not. Afterwards, however, I wish to make progress.
John Bercow | 453 c554 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary has been characteristically generous in giving way. Earlier, the Prime Minist...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c554 (Link to this contribution) I gave way to the hon. Gentleman because he takes a great interest in the issue, which he has raised...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c555 (Link to this contribution) It is genuinely difficult, because I know that with every country I come to someone will wish to int...
Derek Conway | 453 c555 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary for her generosity. The point that she made about our NATO al...
Claire Curtis-Thomas | 453 c553 (Link to this contribution) I am enormously comforted by my right hon. Friend’s words about the security situation in Iraq, but ...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c553 (Link to this contribution) I will give way to my hon. Friend. I have been speaking for 16 minutes without making very much prog...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 453 c566 (Link to this contribution) It is appropriate that I should intervene at this stage, because the misinformation on which the pre...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c566 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way to my hon. Friend in a moment, as he has been to Afghanistan so often. The Governm...
Tobias Ellwood | 453 c566 (Link to this contribution) Brigadier John Lorimer, who is shortly to take over command of British forces, has requested a numbe...
Tobias Ellwood | 453 c566 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c565-6 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure that that intervention was wholly up to the level of the debate so far, which is not a...
Jim Sheridan | 453 c565 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a powerful case for international co-operation in Iraq. However, his ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c565 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way one more time, but then I must rattle through the rest of my remarks.
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c563-5 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will discover that, since that time, the UK has greatly reduced the number of nuc...
Jeremy Corbyn | 453 c563 (Link to this contribution) I am pleased that the right hon. Gentleman mentions the non-proliferation treaty. Is he fully aware ...
Chris Bryant | 453 c561-2 (Link to this contribution) Again, the debate is focusing on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, but the list of groups in Iran that have ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c562 (Link to this contribution) Yes, of course. The hon. Gentleman made that point earlier in the debate and on many previous occasi...
Daniel Kawczynski | 453 c562 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend mentioned the progress that the Government have made on getting Libya to get ri...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c562-3 (Link to this contribution) There is a need for more positive engagement with the countries of north Africa. I do not want to sp...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c561 (Link to this contribution) There is a legitimate debate to be had about that, but many efforts have been made to engage with Ir...
Mike Gapes | 453 c561 (Link to this contribution) Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that the Iranian political situation is internally complicated, ...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c561 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely what I was about to do—I thank the hon. Lady for the invitation. We are considerin...
Phyllis Starkey | 453 c561 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman pointed out that there is general international agreement about the way for...
John Baron | 453 c572 (Link to this contribution) May I suggest that the issue of Iraqi civilians is not just a question of casualties but a question ...
Michael Moore | 453 c571-2 (Link to this contribution) I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Interests. It is always a plea...
Michael Moore | 453 c572-4 (Link to this contribution) Sadly there are all too many details on which we could spend time this afternoon that illustrate the...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c566-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention, although we are left in something of a grey area about whether ...
Baroness Hoey | 453 c567 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c567-8 (Link to this contribution) No, I am so sorry, but I really must finish my remarks. The need for a new approach is partly becau...
Lord Touhig | 453 c568-9 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary on her opening remarks and to the right ...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 453 c569 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman moves off the subject of an equal relationship with the United States, doe...
Lord Touhig | 453 c569-71 (Link to this contribution) I know that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and Ministers in the Ministry of Defence hav...
Michael Moore | 453 c577-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Foreign Secretary for her intervention. On her first point, several months have...
Michael Moore | 453 c575-6 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady has been an effective campaigner on that issue in recent years, and it is important fo...
David Drew | 453 c576 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman moves on to another topic, I wish to raise a matter that connects Zimbabwe...
Michael Moore | 453 c576 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an important point, and people might have been slightly alarmed by the rece...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c576-7 (Link to this contribution) Let me respond to the points that the hon. Gentleman has made. On the use of cluster bombs in Lebano...
Michael Moore | 453 c574 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. The continuation of those policies by the Israeli Government certainly unde...
Jeremy Corbyn | 453 c574 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman recognise that one of the problems is the enforced poverty in Palestine resu...
Michael Moore | 453 c574-5 (Link to this contribution) Those are important points. It is essential for the Palestinians to be able to export their goods, t...
Baroness Hoey | 453 c575 (Link to this contribution) I do not wish to minimise at all the terrible tragedies in Darfur and Iraq, but is the hon. Gentlema...
John Barrett | 453 c574 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the subdivision of the west bank by the wall, the barrier and the tre...
David Winnick | 453 c586-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree with a great deal of what the right hon. and learned Member for Devizes (Mr. Ancram) said, i...
Malcolm Rifkind | 453 c588-9 (Link to this contribution) Many Members have spoken about the situation in the middle east. I want to concentrate on the Govern...
Tom Clarke | 453 c582-4 (Link to this contribution) I should like to talk about the Government’s policy on international development. The Queen’s Speech...
Marquess of Lothian | 453 c584-6 (Link to this contribution) I will be blunt: we have spent the past decade umbilically linked to the foreign policy of two Ameri...
Gerald Kaufman | 453 c578 (Link to this contribution) I want to welcome the visit of my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister to Pakistan, and to emphasise...
John Barrett | 453 c578 (Link to this contribution) Would the right hon. Gentleman like to comment on Britain’s response to the United Nations when a re...
Adam Holloway | 453 c581 (Link to this contribution) The Defence Committee has discussed the shortages of helicopters. I do not know whether my right hon...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 453 c581-2 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. My hon. Friend, who makes a valuable contribution to the Defence Committee, has made those p...
Gerald Kaufman | 453 c579-80 (Link to this contribution) This Government and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister have played an extremely active role in ...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 453 c580-1 (Link to this contribution) The Gracious Speech did not mention the armed forces or defence as such at all. It did say:"““My Gov...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 453 c594-5 (Link to this contribution) I find myself in a remarkable political situation. I have been called in the debate to follow my rig...
Robert N Wareing | 453 c595 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman may not have heard it, but I understand that the Government hav...
Lord Clarke of Nottingham | 453 c595-7 (Link to this contribution) I am sure that we will all eagerly read Hansard to see what their lordships are allowed to hear abou...
Malcolm Rifkind | 453 c589 (Link to this contribution) The House should be reminded of Kosovo, because it was an unfortunate precedent that led directly to...
David Winnick | 453 c589 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. and learned Gentleman will know that during his period as Foreign Secretary there was...
Malcolm Rifkind | 453 c589-91 (Link to this contribution) I come straight to the point that the hon. Gentleman makes. The whole point about not going to war a...
Glenda Jackson | 453 c591-3 (Link to this contribution) It gives me no pleasure at all to agree in some part with the contribution of the right hon. and lea...
Mark Pritchard | 453 c593 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady seems to be arguing against her own point. Is she suggesting that there should be fede...
Glenda Jackson | 453 c593-4 (Link to this contribution) It may be the free will of the people that they should live in a state that is ruled by Shi’a law, y...
Robert N Wareing | 453 c603-5 (Link to this contribution) I was saddened the other week that more of my hon. Friends did not join me and others to call for a ...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 453 c601-3 (Link to this contribution) I will address that point. It is now the policy of the Israeli Government entirely to eliminate migr...
Lord Deben | 453 c601 (Link to this contribution) Does it not now seem that it is the direct intention of the Israeli authorities to make the presence...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 453 c600-1 (Link to this contribution) The Queen’s Speech specifically mentions peace in the middle east, which has been discussed and whic...
Jeremy Corbyn | 453 c599-600 (Link to this contribution) I am interested to hear that, and tragically not in the least bit surprised by such an approach. Ima...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 453 c599 (Link to this contribution) With regard to the arrest of the Hamas politicians, would the hon. Gentleman be interested to know t...
Jeremy Corbyn | 453 c597-9 (Link to this contribution) I am delighted that we are having this debate today. Never before have international affairs so domi...
James Gray | 453 c606 (Link to this contribution) I am proud to be a signatory to the hon. Gentleman’s amendment, but would it be better not only if w...
Elfyn Llwyd | 453 c605-6 (Link to this contribution) In March 2005, I visited Iraq, going to Basra and Baghdad. The visit was arranged by the Foreign Off...
Elfyn Llwyd | 453 c606-7 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely so. That is what one hopes will happen in due course, although perhaps we are hoping agai...
Crispin Blunt | 453 c616-8 (Link to this contribution) This has been a quite exceptional debate. After the opening speeches, the right hon. Member for Islw...
Tom Clarke | 453 c620 (Link to this contribution) I think the hon. Gentleman was referring to me. I understood that most of the House supported the Go...
John Barrett | 453 c618-20 (Link to this contribution) I will start by talking about the issue that is at the heart of the Government’s foreign policy: Ira...
Elfyn Llwyd | 453 c607-8 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman is absolutely right: it is disgraceful and insulting to this place and, mor...
Lord Deben | 453 c607 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman repeat what a disgrace it is that the Prime Minister of Great Britain finds ...
Bernard Jenkin | 453 c611-3 (Link to this contribution) Oh, unhappy debate—unhappy for the Government, as there has not been a single contribution to it tha...
Mark Lazarowicz | 453 c608-11 (Link to this contribution) Like most Members who have spoken in the debate so far, I believe that the consequences of the invas...
John Barrett | 453 c620-1 (Link to this contribution) I had finished speaking, but I am delighted to allow the right hon. Gentleman to clarify matters. I ...
Gary Streeter | 453 c621-2 (Link to this contribution) I hope the House will forgive me if I depart from the focus on one or two geographical regions of th...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 453 c622 (Link to this contribution) Would this ability to get rid of certain politicians apply to both Houses of Parliament?
Mike Gapes | 453 c624-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for South-West Devon (Mr. Streeter), and I appreciate his...
Gary Streeter | 453 c623-4 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is right. Those are very much part of the focus that Britain should have in its forei...
Mark Pritchard | 453 c623 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that the BBC World Service also has a part to play, albeit directly in dem...
Gary Streeter | 453 c622-3 (Link to this contribution) I certainly support the election of a certain percentage of the upper Chamber, although I am not sur...
Willie Rennie | 453 c629-30 (Link to this contribution) In July, the Defence Committee, of which I am a member, paid a visit to Afghanistan and Pakistan to ...
John Baron | 453 c627-9 (Link to this contribution) The Member for Ilford, South (Mike Gapes) made a thoughtful speech, and I agreed with much of it. Th...
Mike Gapes | 453 c625-7 (Link to this contribution) I have spoken to many Kurdish politicians about that issue and they believe that the best security f...
Angus Brendan MacNeil | 453 c625 (Link to this contribution) May I take the hon. Gentleman back to his remarks about self-determination, and ask whether he suppo...
Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton | 453 c630 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that one of the fundamental problems that we face in Helmand is that t...
Willie Rennie | 453 c630-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. I was disappointed to hear that the representative from DFID...
Adam Ingram | 453 c632 (Link to this contribution) Before the hon. Gentleman moves off the subject of carriers, does he recollect that one of his party...
James Gray | 453 c632-3 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to the hon. Member for Dunfermline and West Fife (Willie Rennie) who spoke with author...
Willie Rennie | 453 c632 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that—[Hon. Members: ““Helpful.””] It was very helpful. As the Member repres...
Lord Browne of Ladyton | 453 c633 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised an interesting point, but he is surely not suggesting that the only co...
James Gray | 453 c635-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend, who was a special adviser at the MOD, makes his point extremely well. He is right th...
Crispin Blunt | 453 c635 (Link to this contribution) What my hon. Friend and I know—I know it from my experience as a special adviser at the Ministry of ...
Tobias Ellwood | 453 c637-8 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to participate in this debate. The Queen’s Speech is supposed to mark a new parliam...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c552 (Link to this contribution) I completely reject the hon. Gentleman’s basic contention. We have done a little research because I ...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c552 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way, then I must press on.
Andrew MacKay | 453 c552 (Link to this contribution) The Foreign Secretary will have noted that the Speaker has imposed a 10-minute limit on Back-Benches...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c552 (Link to this contribution) Absolute nonsense. I do not think that the right hon. Gentleman necessarily always attends those deb...
Chris Bryant | 453 c552 (Link to this contribution) I am deeply grateful to the Foreign Secretary. May I return her to the subject of Iran? It seems tha...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c552-3 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He is right—there are a great number of examples of difficult human...
John Baron | 453 c552 (Link to this contribution) I agree that we should not cut and run. Given that the Prime Minister appears very willing to discus...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c551-2 (Link to this contribution) If my right hon. Friend will forgive me, I must make a little more progress. British soldiers and c...
Denis MacShane | 453 c551 (Link to this contribution) Will my right hon. Friend give way?
Gerald Kaufman | 453 c550 (Link to this contribution) I join my right hon. Friend in condemning the assassination of Mr. Gemayel. However, can she explain...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c550 (Link to this contribution) I think that everyone in the House, including my right hon. Friend, is aware of the extremely diffic...
Phyllis Starkey | 453 c549-50 (Link to this contribution) Has my right hon. Friend also raised with the Israelis how the constant road blocks, the expropriati...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c550 (Link to this contribution) Yes, we have made such points to the Government of Israel on many occasions and if the need arises w...
Linda Gilroy | 453 c551 (Link to this contribution) In respect of Iran’s nuclear ambitions, will the Foreign Secretary take the opportunity to confirm t...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c551 (Link to this contribution) Naturally. Both Iran and Syria can choose to be part of the solution in Iraq, not part of the probl...
Daniel Kawczynski | 453 c550-1 (Link to this contribution) Recent press reports have stated that the Syrian Government will help the situation in Iraq only if ...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c551 (Link to this contribution) All I can say to the hon. Gentleman is that we are a long way from being confident that we have seen...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c549 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way once more and then I must make a little progress.
Baroness Beckett | 453 c549 (Link to this contribution) First, I accept that the loss of revenues flowing to Palestine has left a huge gap in its budget and...
Jeremy Corbyn | 453 c549 (Link to this contribution) In the pressure that the Foreign Secretary is putting on Israel, what is she saying about the contin...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c549 (Link to this contribution) We have always maintained pressure and sought to convince our Israeli colleagues about the best way ...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c549 (Link to this contribution) There have been many discussions, with a variety of players; indeed, hardly a stone has been left un...
Lord Bruce of Bennachie | 453 c549 (Link to this contribution) Does the Foreign Secretary acknowledge that although it is entirely understandable that Israel withh...
Lord Arbuthnot of Edrom | 453 c548 (Link to this contribution) What discussions has the Foreign Secretary been able to have, and with whom, to urge the return to I...
Baroness Beckett | 453 c548 (Link to this contribution) It seems generally accepted that the international environment in which our country finds itself is ...
Jeremy Browne | 453 c642 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Crispin Blunt | 453 c559 (Link to this contribution) Following the Lebanon war, my right hon. Friend has rather more credibility in Lebanon than the Gove...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c558 (Link to this contribution) A full day’s debate on international affairs in this House is much needed, and some might say that i...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c566 (Link to this contribution) There does seem to be a gap, to which my hon. Friend has pointed, between repeated prime ministerial...
Lord Hague of Richmond | 453 c559-61 (Link to this contribution) Of course it would be good if those former Ministers were prepared once again to join a national uni...
Baroness Hoey | 453 c613-6 (Link to this contribution) It is always interesting to follow one of my many constituents, who can be found on both sides of th...
James Gray | 453 c633-5 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State makes my point for me. My point is that what we should be doing in this great...
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